Pressure
by broken-inside-x
Summary: Smithy's feeling the preassure. Callum ropes in a favour.
1. Chapter 1

It had been 2 weeks and 3 days since Dale Smith had been promoted to Inspector.  
Since then it had seemed as if every thug, drunk, and dealer had crawled out from their dirty little squats to commit yet another petty crime. To say he'd been busy was an understatement.  
There had been the case with the elderly woman who'd been robbed of over £1000 worth of jewellery. They had spent the whole shift questioning neighbours about the suspects description and searching for him. He had turned out to be her druggie of a grandson who she had failed to mention had a key to her house.  
There had been the incident with a 13 year old boy from the Jasmin Allen Estate bringing 10 grams of Cannabis into school. Nate and Ben had spent the morning searching for an imaginary dealer because the 10 grams turned out to be part of the Dad's homemade stash. They'd had a countless number of phone calls about drink fuelled violence and speeding drink drivers. All of which resisted arrest and protested their innocence of course. Poor Mel had even ended up with a bruised cheekbone, courtesy of a violent drunkard who had come to their attention through an armed robbery case.

He'd been to every crime scene and had completed all the paperwork for each case on time and to a good standard, even the files on Mel's assault had been finished.  
He was determined to be a good Inspector, he had big shoes to fill. Both Gina's and Rachel's although he was more concerned about making Gina Gold proud. He could still remember the smile on her face when he'd told her of his promotion, in person of course. She'd been so proud and she was the only person he knew that could be so proud yet at the same time berate him for taking so long in taking up the position. But it had been the good news he'd needed after the Devlin Case disaster. He wanted to make sure she stayed proud of him.

The result of this, however, was nights like this when the station was eerily quiet, devoid of Ben and Leon arguing over something stupid, the sounds of Kirsty's frustration as she put them both back in line. She'd make a great Sergeant one day. He missed the sounds of Roger sharing his wisdom around the station, his years of experience being told through stories of 'back in the day' and most recently the sounds of Nate and Mel flirting could be heard around the station. Her laughing at whatever he said, whether it was funny or not, only encouraged him to talk more. He'd heard Ben and Leon joking about it in the locker room but Nate had refused to comment. Smithy was finding it harder and harder to separate them.  
They'd all gone down to the pub over an hour ago, it was Friday night after all, yet he was still cooped up in his office, snowed under mountins of paperwork and case files.  
Running a hand through his unruly hair, he picked up the next file wearily.  
Another drink driver.

**:)**

Callum Stone wasn't stupid. Nor was he blind. He could see that Smithy was trying to hard to be the perfect Inspector and he could see the effect it was having on him, even if no-one else could. He was all smiles and banter when on duty with the rest of the team but once he was in the safety of his office the smile dropped of his face and his shoulders sagged. During Gina's reign as Inspector the office had smelt of cigarettes, during Rachel's reign it had been in instant coffee. Now that Smithy was inspector the office had a faint whiff of whiskey, his new vice. He had heavy bags under his eyes and he seemed to have lost the ability to iron a shirt. Yet he remained to be the first at the station and the last to leave.

"Ain't your shift over Smithy?" he questioned, hoping for more than the standard response which was a small grunt and a shrug of the shoulders. His wish was granted, the victory was short lived however as the update wasn't much more.  
"Stuff to do"

That had been the answer last Friday, when he'd been asked down to the pub to celebrate Kirsty's birthday. The whole of the relief team have gone, heck even Callum himself had gone. Yet when they left the station he knew Smithy had retreated to his office once more and had spent the best part of the night there. Alone with his computer, case files and an endless supply of caffeine. This Friday looked to be a repeat of last.

"You should go home mate. Looks like you haven't slept in the last decade or two"  
"Like i said Sergeant. I have stuff to do"

Callum had known his statement would be unappreciated so the frustration laced in Smithy's voice didn't surprise him, nor did the fact that he still hadn't looked up from the case file he was staring intently at. Callum just wished he knew who the Inspectors frustration was aimed at. Him or the Inspector himself? He had a horrible feeling it was the latter.  
But Callum wasn't one to be scared off by an angry voice, even though he knew that Smithy could be headstrong and even badtempered when provoked.

"Smithy..." he began but his last ditch attempt was cut off.  
"Leave it Callum. Just go home" He finally lifted his head to stare directly at Callum, his eyes imploring him to drop the subject so that's what he gave the impression of doing.  
"Night Serge" he wished Smithy with a small nod of the head, he turned to leave his office. Heading straight for the entrance to the station but instead of leaving he turned into the steps that lead to CID. He was greeted by an empty office. The CID team had obviously been unable to resit the allure of Friday night at the pub and not for the first time tonight he wondered why he wasn't down there too. He cursed loudly before sweeping his gaze around the deserted room for the last time. Empty chairs and vacated desks stared back at him, taunting him with the fact that his hope hadn't been enough to help him this time.

Cursing once more he turned on his heels, intending to head for the pub where the rest of his team were enjoying the end of a difficult shift. Instead he crashed straight into a small figure whose arms were loaded with papers, which instantly fell to the ground as she put her arms out to attempt to steady herself, or to break her fall. Instinctively his arms went to her waist to help steady her.

"Why Sergeant Stone, I didn't know you you felt that way" she grinned up at him cheekily, her voice mocking him as she shook with quiet laughter.

"Hilarious Stevie" he deadpanned, his face betraying him with a small smile as he bent down to help gather the papers that had crashed to the floor earlier. He picked up a bulky file, his curiosity got the best of him as he looked at the name inside. "Katie O'Neill. Misper?"

"Not all teenage girls are runaways y'know Callum. She was a victim in an assault this morning. Doctors think its a possible rape attack. Of course we don't know for certain because she won't talk. Not that I blame the kid. Whoever did it to her was one nasty piece of work" she explained as she took the file off him, dumping it on her desk along with the rest of the paperwork.

"Ah" Stone had hit a brick wall, figuratively. How was he meant to bring it up? "Was that the crime scene Smithy disappeared to this morning?"  
The whole station knew that badmouthing Smithy to Stevie or vice versa was most likely to end up in a surprise visit to A&E. Especially after everything Smithy had done for her during the Devlin attack. Not that anyone else in the station knew about that, but they all had their hunches. How he was meant to tell her Smithy was pressuring himself too much.

"Yeah, he was there all right." she was now standing over Mickey Webb's desk, riffling through the clutter that hid wooden surface, most of it overdue paperwork knowing Mickey. "He didn't look great though. Looked...i don't know. Tired. But that's what you're here to talk to me about I'm assuming" She was still looking for whatever was hidden in the depths of that rubbish but her voice had quietened, saddened almost. That was enough to tell him he'd made the right choice.

"Nothing gets passed you ey?"  
"I should look into detective work. Right?" Her voice was thick with sarcasm as she tried to recover from the tiny bit of emotion she'd allowed Callum to see but nothing got passed him either and he could see what she was covering. She looked up from Mickey's desk to grin at him again. "And here was me hoping this was a social visit" she added in her most flirtatious voice.

He could see why so many people liked her. Between the flirty smile, chatty persona and her brilliant detective skills there wasn't much room left to dislike the little blond. She'd moved back to stand behind her own desk now, still facing him, with a flimsy piece of paper clutched in her hands which she soon let drop to the table. With a soft sigh she turned the full force of her blue eyes on him.

"Your wasting your time Callum. There's nothing you or I can do to stop him self destructing"

"Just talk to him. One more try." he pleaded with her. That must have had some kind of effect on her as she closed her mouth which she'd opened to argue with him. Everyone knew how unlikely it was for him to beg for something.

"Fine. OK...I'll try. But you owe me 3 extra officers for this case if I do!"

He sighed with relief. She'd agreed, abiet unwillingly and at the cost of three of his officers but she'd agreed all the same. He watched as she stuffed the papers back into the Katie O'Neill file before shrugging her leather jacket on over her shoulders.

"Move. Before I change my mind Stone!"

He mock saluted her before he turned and headed for the door. He used one hand to open it for her and the other to flick the switch, basking the empty room in darkness.

"Inspectors office. I'll leave you to it. Night Stevie" He called as he began his descent down the stairs, taking them two at a time in his efforts to get away from the inevitable argument that was bound to follow Stevie into the office. The cool night air greeted him as he made his way out of the station doors, still able to hear Stevie cursing him loud enough to ensure he heard every word, and in the direction of the local pub where he could finally join his team in a drinking session, his spirit a little cheerier at the thought of the old Smithy returning to work in the morning. His hangover would be alot less painful without the authoritative voice shouting down his ears about drinking on the job. In fact it would help alot of the team if the old Smithy was back.

**:)**

Stevie Moss sighed heavily. She had been roped into talking some sense into the most stubborn man in SunHill, how she was going to do that she had no idea. She didn't even know how she'd get him to stop working long enough for her to get the chance to speak. After racking her brains for a last minute solution, which didn't come, she decided to do what she always did. Act first, think later. So, throwing caution to the wind she boldly knocked on the wooden door, pointedly ignoring the name plate that read 'Inspector Dale Smith'. It was almost as if she was blaming the plate for her situation. That and Callum Stone, who would not get away with this. She was going to make use of the hangover he'd have in the morning. She knew from first hand experience that loud voices didn't help thumping headaches. Realising she hadn't gotten a response she tentatively pushed the door open.

"Smithy?"

**OK guys, i have a question. Well, I've been told i overuse comma's (,). Do i? because if i do i seriously need to fix it :)  
Thanks for reading :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Her heels made hollow sounds against the floor of the station as she made her way back to the Inspectors office. She hadn't bumped into anyone on her journey which only proved her theory. Everyone else was down the pub, having a decent Friday night. Once again she found herself cursing Callum Stone and vowing to get revenge. He wouldn't know what had hit him in the morning.

Her mind turned back on to her task. She had to knock sense into Dale Smith's thick skull without hurting his pride and letting on that Stone had put her up to this. She'd never have attempted this if it hadn't been for Stone because she knew Smithy well enough to know that he'd be angry. Fuming even, and she was going to be on the receiving end of that anger now. Just what she needed.  
Pushing the heavy wooden door to his office open she set her eyes on him, he hadn't moved since she'd left. His head was still resting on his desk, one arm underneath curled round his face and the other with a pen still poised in his hand almost like he'd stopped mid-sentence. He was still snoring softly and his hair was a dishevelled mess, even more so than usual. She couldn't help but admit to herself that he looked child-like and innocent while he slept, the overall impression being that he looked cute, sweet even.

She set the two steaming cups of coffee down on top of one of his filing cabinets, ensuring that he wouldn't knock the scalding liquid to the floor. The office faintly smelt of alcohol and she now understood why Callum had been as worried about his friend as he had, worried enough to ask for help which was very un-Callum like.

The office was a mess, there was no nice way of putting it. His desk was stacked high with paper. Case files, risk assessments, warrants, the lot. His stab vest was slung over the back of his chair and his hat was perched on top of one of the mountains of paperwork. In the corner of the room evidence box's were stacked one on top of another, piling so high she couldn't have reached the top if she'd wanted to. The bottom drawer of his desk was open slightly and she could see the top of a whiskey bottle poking out from inside. So that was his new vice, it explained the smell. She found herself thinking about how much he'd had to drink, the bottle was nearly empty, and if the coffee would help sober him up.

"Wakey wakey sleeping beauty" she nudged his arm softy, careful not to scare him too much. She could still remember him telling her how disorientated he'd been when he woke up during their undercover op. She wasn't in a rush to repeat that.

She watched as he stirred slowly, lifting his head from the desk as he rubbed his eyes. He gazed around the room, registering where he was. His eyes settled on the two coffee mugs before turning to stare up at her, the shock evident in his gaze. They hadn't spoken since the Devlin trial, they hadn't been avoiding each other either. It was just that they'd had their personal lives spread out for a jury to decide whether their lives were intertwined with each others or not. Then he'd been made Inspector after his name had been cleared and the whole station knew it would be a drastic hange for him. It was just too much pressue, more so for him than for her.

His hair was a dishevelled mess, his short dark locks sticking up in all directions. His skin was sickly pale apart from the dark bags under his eyes, eyes which were still staring at her dully. The last time he'd seen her they'd been a light green, sparkling with life because he loved his job. Now they were lifeless and dull, he was struggling and it was evident for anyone who looked close enough to see. Like Callum had.

"DC Moss. What can i do for you?" His voice was guarded and she could almost feel the coldness in it. He'd turned his gaze back down to the paperwork that was resting on his desk. Picing up his pen again he scribbled something at the bottom of the sheet, most likely a signature, before placing it back inside a brown file.

"DC Moss? When did things get so formal?" she questioned him. She'd posed as his girlfriend once, spent hours talking to him in the undercover home. They'd gone out, having to act like a proper couple which had meant getting close, kissing even. Yet here he was using her full title like she was just another of his troops, he'd never done that before. It had always been Stevie or just simply Moss. Never DC Moss. Not even her boss, Neil Manson, used her title.

"Right about when you agreed to do Callum Stone's dirty work!" His voice had escalated from the hushed tone it had been, all signs of sleep now gone. She didn't know how he'd figured it out so soon, she'd thought he'd need the coffee first but he hadn't even glanced twice at the steaming mug that she'd moved to sit infront of him. He'd obviously seen the questioning look in her eyes as he continued to explain, his voice no calmer than when he began. "We havn't spoken since the trial and you expect me to believe that you've just popped in for a social visit? Don't lie to me Stevie" She was glad to hear him say her name, his voice seemed to soften as he said it yet the volume of his voice wasn't lowered. He was mad and she didn't know whether it was at her or Callum.

"He's worried bout you. Thats all"

"Yeah well...I'm fine. I'd be better if the pair of you left me alone!" He'd stood up now, at at six foot something he was an intimidating figure when he was shouting. Yet he still looked tired, like just getting up had drained his energy.

"Oh hold on, don't blame us for the fact that your struggling!" She'd had no intention of getting into an argument or to responding to his immature shouting but he'd annoyed her now. She'd never been one to back down from an argument, whether she thought she could win or not. Smithy was walking towards her now, looming above her small figure. They were so close now that she could smell the alcohol on his breath and see the stubble that had begun to grow on his usually clean shaven face.

"Struggling? You think I'm struggling? Glad to see the faith you always said you had in me is stronger than ever DC Moss!" He was fully shouting now and she was thankful that the station was so empty, she doubted the paper thin walls would conceal any part of their argument but at least there was no-one around to hear it. They wouldn't be station gossip by the morning at least. She was really beginning to regret ever agreeing to this plan. Curse Callum Stone and his guilt trip. When he turned up in the morning she was going to make sure he never asked her for a favour again."Glad to see that you hang on every word Stone says! What's he promised you ey? For doing this. Or are you doing it as a favour for him?"

She didn't like the what he was implying with his last remark but instead of being mad and shouting back all she could think of was how this wasn't Smithy. This wasn't the guy who'd picked her up from hospital after her attack. The guy who'd taken her home and stayed with her most of the night to make sure she was alright. Heck, he'd even picked her up the next morning so she wasn't driving, dropping her home after their shift too. This wasn't the guy who she'd stood by when Neil and Jack had questioned her over the possibility of Smithy attacking Devlin. She'd told Neil that she trusted him, but staring at him now, his cheeks bright red and his eyes filled with anger as he glared back at her, she realised it wasn't the same guy.

Callum had been right to be worried. Smithy was definitely not OK. He was tired. his mind obviously working on autopilot. The lack of sleep had made him cranky and argumentative, not great in someone who's naturally hot headed and stubborn.  
Before, she'd been ready to fight back. She could give just as good as she got as she'd shown in CID many times when up against Max Carter and his obnoxious remarks. Now she just wanted to leave, his cruel words had hurt her more than she'd like to admit and the fight had gone out of her. The fact that he thought of her like that, his opinion of her being so low had hit home. Yet she stubbornly refused to let him see how much he'd hurt her, she didn't want him knowing he had that much power over her feelings.

He surprised her, however, as he backed away from her. The shock on his face telling her that he'd only just realised what he'd said and who he'd said it to. He was now walking backwards, further away from her, towards the window that looked out onto the empty corridor and into the Sergeants office where she could see Callum and Jo's mess strewn about the tiny room.

"I...I'm sorry." he mumbled over and over again, more to himself than to her. He'd almost sounded like Max at his cruelest. The only difference between the comments being that Max usually had a smug look plastered across his face whereas Smithy's comment, she realised, had purely been said in the heat of the moment. His exhaustion showing through at the worst time. He slumped against the wall, falling as gracefully as his tall frame could to the floor. His eyes leaving hers to stare at the carpet as he ran his hands through his hair once again, making it stick out even more. His elbows rested on his knee's which he had drawn up close to his chest. Sitting there, she couldn't help but notice how vulnerable he looked, child like even. And despite everything her heart went out to him as she berated herself for not realising how bad things had gotten. She should have known.

She walked over to where he'd landed before sliding gracefully down the wall herself. Now they were sat side by side, almost like they had been in court. Instinct told her her to say something, anything, yet all she could do was stare at his handsome features and wonder how she'd missed him self-destructing.

**OK, what do you think? I dont think i like this chapter :/ Next one will be better. Promise.**


	3. Chapter 3

Stevie had never been a fan of drawn out silences. When her grandpa died she sat in his room singing to herself because she didn't like the silence that hadn't always been there but now enveloped the room, suffocating her. After her sister left she'd sit,huddled, in their room reading aloud to herself to block out the muffled sounds of her mother crying, the silence magnifying the wretched sobs. She sat in court, humming to herself as the jury debated over whether her father was guilty of abuse, she didn't stop humming, not even when the not guilty verdict came back and the tears threatened to betray her mask. Yet, she couldn't find anything to break the silence as she sat there, her hand gripping Smithy's limp one as he continued to stare at the floor.

"Smithy?"

He lifted his head, agonizingly slow, to look at her, the first sign of recognition since he'd sunk to the floor over 10 minutes ago. He looked older than his years. His skin was a pale washed out shade of its normal colour, making the bags under his eyes stand out even more. He was leaning heavily against the wall, as though keeping himself upright was draining him of the little energy he had left and he was still silently mouthing the word sorry. His breath smelt faintly of whiskey and coffee. His eyelids were beginning to droop now and she instantly knew there was no way he was driving home.

"I'm sorry you know. I really... I really didn't mean to say what I did. To say that you were doing this as a...as a personal favour...to Callum. It's none of my business...whether you are... or not." Every few words he had to stop to think, obviously choosing the best way to put his words across to her. He was genuinely sorry, it was plain as day to her. Smithy had never been a great liar, he never managed to control the grin that slipped past the facade.

"How 'bout we get you back to mine? A cuppa and a good night's sleep is all you need." She'd always been a better liar than he had. She grown up pretending that everything would be alright and this last white lie was no different. She didn't have a clue about what he needed apart from the fact that he needed her, he needed anyone really. Just someone to put an end to the downward spiral he was on and thanks to Callum she was that person.

She pushed herself up off the floor, her limbs were stiff and sore from the days work. It hadn't exactly been the easiest shift. People were more bothered about catching the drug dealers and the rapist's these days, a result the most important thing, and that was OK only no-one ever stopped to think about the victims left behind, the kids the drug dealers and rapist's preyed on. Callum had assumed that Katie O'Neill was just another mispher purely for the fact that there were so many young people out there that felt they had no other option but to runaway, no-one they felt they could talk to. Heck, even she'd tried it once or twice before. Only failing due to lack of money. At the age of 13 she hadn't been the most streetwise kid out there. Just like Connor Reilly who'd been missing for over 2 months now, or Mary Hagan who'd gone to a friends and didn't come home. Or like any other of the kids that had managed to find their way into a SunHill case file and onto her desk.

She dragged herself back to the present and began searchingSmithy's desk for his car keys, ignoring his half hearted mumbles about the invasion of privacy. She located the keys in his top draw hidden by a stack of ancient papers, a broken stapler and a mangled pen.

"Right" her jaw was set in determination and she gave his her most chilling stare to prove she wasn't taking any of his rubbish. "Lets get you out of here Mr. I-Work-Too-Much"

"This coming from you Miss. I-Don't-Work-At-All"

She nearly let go of his hand, which she was gripping as she pulled him from the floor. as she heard his first sarcastic remark since she'd entered the room. Maybe things were looking up.

**I know this is short but bare with me guys, overloaded with school work and drowning in homework at the moment. It can only get better :)  
Hope you liked it.**


	4. Chapter 4

Seeing him in her apartment wasn't unusual for Stevie, he'd been here enough times to think he had a right to complain about how he had to duck under the doorways and how she never had his favourite beer in. He'd slept on her couch the night after she'd been discharged from the hospital after she had been attacked by Devlin, stayed awake with her most of it after it became apparent that she was scared to fall asleep and made sure she'd taken all the medication she'd been given, even when she insisted she wasn't in pain, a complete lie that he saw straight through. The morning after she listened to him snore from her spot next to the kettle in the kitchen, his legs hung over the edge of the sofa, tangled in the blankets, and his hair even more unruly than usual.

This time felt different though, he didn't complain about the doorways and he didn't head in the direction of the kitchen like usual. Instead he stood awkwardly, his eyes still downcast in an attempt to avoid her gaze and his hands stuffed deep inside the pockets of the jeans she'd demanded he change into back at the station.

"You can sit down y'know" she called over her shoulder as she headed into the kitchen to make him a decent cup of coffee. He hadn't drunk the one she'd brought him at the station and she wasn't entirely sure how much of the whiskey he'd had. Either way, he was getting coffee whether he liked it or not.

As she moved around her kitchen, grabbing mugs and looking for the coffee, she tried to think of a plan, of some way to make Smithy see that he couldn't carry on this way. It had become more apparent to her on the way back home that his persistence on doing everything on his own was only hurting him.

Maybe she could help him with some stuff, everyone in CID could really. Except for Mickey maybe, his mountain of paperwork was already unbelievable. Max would only complain, throwing in some cruel remarks about how Smithy was struggling whilst Terry shot him looks that could kill. Grace would help, she was sure. Grace would willingly help anyone who asked. Then there was the uniformed stuff, but Jo could always help with that side of things, or maybe it'd be too much with her new sergeant's position. Callum could certainly help after putting her in this position! She couldn't help but wonder if she was doing more than Stone had asked of her though. He'd asked her to try and talk to him, not bring him home and make plans to fix everything, yet that was what she was doing.

Stevie continued pacing the kitchen whilst the kettle boiled, muttering to herself about possible options and occasionally threatening Callum Stone.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Her train of thought was interrupted as she turned sharply to face Smithy as he leaned against the door frame, a slight smirk upon his face. It was the first thing he'd said to her since he stopped saying sorry, an improvement she felt.

"I think you should lay off the whiskey" she grinned at him, trying to lighten the mood. "Or you could at least share it with me"

"It…helps" he stuttered, he brows knitted together and a frown pulling at the corners of his mouth. It was like they'd taken a step forward and two steps back.

"I was actually just thinking that maybe some of the guys in CID could help y'know with the paperwork. I mean, we can all sign off on our own cases… or do something anyway." She mumbled as she turned to fill the mugs with coffee, unsure about her ideas as she voiced them to him. She was waiting for the inevitable explosion that would come because Smithy, she knew, hated asking for favours, probably the reason he hadn't asked for help already. "And Callum can help too!"

She watched his face darken at the mention of Stone.

"And how can you be so certain Stone will help?" His voice had darkened along with his face, that edge from at the station earlier returning to lace his voice. His anger was almost tangible and the air in the room grew heavy.

He'd never spoken to her like he had tonight; it had always been flirty comments and jokes between them, even during the rougher times during the friendship. Heck, they'd even joked during the court case where they'd stood up in a room full of people and justified their friendship.

"Stones the reason you're here!" she all but screamed at him, her own temper rising to the surface at the implications she'd heard one too many times tonight.

"That's the reason you're helping me? It really is a favour to Stone!"

How had she found herself back in this situation only an hour after the first instance? How had she ended up standing in her own kitchen whilst her closest friend accused her of trading favours for more than friendly reasons?

Smithy turned to storm out of her kitchen, his cheeks flushed and his eyes dark with anger.

"I'M DOING THIS BECAUSE I CARE YOU IDIOT! I CARE MORE THAN YOU BLOODY WELL THINK!"

This time she really did yell. The air rushed out of her lungs as her voice dropped off, slightly ashamed at herself for having lost her temper so easily. She wasn't sure what had spurred her to raise her voice or to bang her tiny fists against the counter but as she stood there, breathing heavily and staring at his back as he paused in the door way, she couldn't find it in herself to regret the outburst.

"You care?" his asked disbelievingly as he slowly turned to face her, the question written in the lines across his face. "You care? More than you should?"

"Yes! Yes I do! And I'm trying to help you only you won't let me! So go ahead, walk away from me!" she shouted at him, refusing to back down now that she'd started arguing back. How the hell they'd managed to get into a fully-fledged screaming match she'd never know but then again their friendship had never exactly been conventional.

The words were hardly out of her mouth however when he strode purposely towards her and took her face into his hands, taking only a moment to look at her, before he crushed his lips to hers. Stunned, she stood there as one of his arms wound round her waist and the other rooted itself in her hair before she responded enthusiastically, standing on her tiptoes and digging her nails into his shoulders.

They were both gasping for breath by the time they pulled away, her mind was spinning and her brows were knit in confusion. They'd gone from screaming at each other about Callum Stone to kissing in less than a minute and her brain couldn't figure out how that had happened.

It seemed as though he noticed her confusion, as well as the doubt that was starting to creep in, and muttered a simple "You wanted to help me" before pulling her back in. Reaching behind her, he flicked the switch to the kettle, turning it off and depriving the room of the whistling that had been the only other noise apart from their shouting; he pulled her out of the kitchen and in the direction of her room. His lips never once leaving hers.

* * *

**Sorry I haven't updated this in ages, and yeah I know ages is a bit of understatement, but in all fairness I wasn't planning on updating at all so thanks to _SexySmithy _for asking and pushing me to actually get it finished and posted. So yeah...hope it wasn't too bad :) Thanks guys :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**So here's the last chapter of this story! Thank you for following, especially considering my awful attempts at updating regularly but yeah...thanks for following and for reviewing if you did, never fails to make me smile :) Thank you! :D**

"I told you to talk to him Stevie, not take him to bed with you!" Callum's voice echoed down the phone she has balanced between her ear and her shoulder as reached up on her toes to grab two mugs. She could hear him yawning on the other end of the line and silently promised herself that she'd take full advantage of his obvious hangover when she made it into the station later.

"A good night's sleep was all he needed!"

"You expect me to believe all you did was sleep last night?" Callum snorted and for that she slammed the cupboard door as loud as she could, smirking in satisfaction when she heard the groan of pain. Last night had clearly been a late one.

"You told me to fix it. I did. I want those extra officers when I get in! Which is actually what I rang you about, Smithy's gonna be late"

"Late night was it?"

"I'm hanging up now!"

She resisted the urge to throw her phone across the room and instead placed it back where it had been on the table before hoisting herself up onto the kitchen counter, letting her legs dangle idly as she waiting for the kettle to boil, desperate for her caffeine fix.

Callum had been right though, no matter how much she tried to deny it to herself, he'd been right. She was supposed to have helped him and instead all she'd ended up doing was confirming all those rumours that she spread about their professional and personal relationship. She'd taken advantage. It's not like she'd planned for it to happen, she hadn't expected it, any of; how soft his lips would feel or the heat as he trailed his fingers across her skin. She hadn't expected the passion of the fact that it felt right.

She hadn't been out of bed longer than 10 minutes and she already missed the strong arm that he'd had wrapped around her waist and the warmth of his breath on the back of her neck, she hadn't appreciated the cold feet but that had only given her an excuse to tangle her legs with his. The image of him lying sprawled out in her bed, his hair ruffled and his eyelashes brushing his cheeks, made her feel like one of those silly school girls and she had no doubt that Jo wouldn't hesitate to remind her of that but she just couldn't keep her mind from imagining what it'd be like to wake up to that all the time.

"You're blushing"

Her head shot up to see him leaning against the doorway, like he had been last night, only this time he was shirtless, his jeans hanging low on his hips and his feet bare. She was pretty sure that if she'd been blushing already then her cheeks were now the shade of tomatoes as she tried to keep her eyes above his neck.

"I…erm…coffee?" she stuttered before reaching over the counter to flick the switch on the kettle, not moving from where she was perched. _Well done Stevie_ she thought to herself_ very articulate!_, mentally slapping herself at her stupidity.

"Were you on the phone?"

"Oh erm…yeah, I rang Callum to let him know we'd be late" she stuttered again, this time afraid that mentioning Stone would only resurrect last night's argument. Mind you if that's what it led to then bringing it back up again wasn't a bad idea to her. "Are you…feeling better?"

The smirk on his face started out slowly, just a smile tugging on his lips but by the time he'd moved across the room to stand in front of her she realised she hadn't seen him smile like this in a long time, she'd missed it too.

"mhmm, best night's sleep I've had in a long time" he smirked down at her, his hands rising to rest on her waist, on a strip of skin just above the top of her pyjama pants and left bare by her top. Stevie couldn't help the shiver that swept through her body in the same way she couldn't help the fact that she involuntarily leaned closer to him, to the heat he radiated. "What're you worrying about?"

"How do you know I'm worrying?" she gaped at him, dumbfounded by the fact that he seemed to be able to read her mind.

"You're biting your lip. You only do that when you're worried"

She resisted the temptation to retort with a sarcastic comment or to roll her eyes and instead decided to be honest with him, she was going to have to tell him at some point she figured and it might as well be now before the entire station heard and the rumour mill started. Gossip spread like wildfire in that place, it was hard to believe they weren't still in school sometimes.

"Last night…last night shouldn't have happened. You were tired and you'd been drinking, I shouldn't have let it get as far as it did so I'm sorry." She rambled, hoping to the high heavens that the floor would just open up underneath her and swallow her whole.

"No way, you are not doing this. Not now, not ever" and just like that, he kissed her lightly on the lips and turned to make the coffee, like the issue had been settled and his say was final. Her mouth opened and closed several times as she stared at Smithy is disbelief. "I've waited a long time for that this and yeah ok, so I need to learn to delegate at work but that's not stopping us."

Smithy didn't even turn to look at her, it was almost as if this wasn't as big deal for him, like their daily life wasn't about to change but then he was in front of her and his lips were on hers. Stevie barely had time to draw a breath in before she was overcome with heat and her eyes shut. Her hands moved to rest on his chest, her fingers tingling at the feel of bare skin as one of his moved to tug on her hair, the other on her hips, pulling her towards the edge of the counter to him, closer.

Any thought of having taken advantage disappeared from her mind and she couldn't even imagine saying no to him any longer. The fear that they might not work hadn't vanished but Smithy seemed almost certain that they would. He'd waited for this and, if she was honest with herself, she had too. Why was she fighting it?

"You still have to learn to delegate though" she mumbled against his lips, only getting a soft moan from him in response before he pulled her down from the counter, lips still attached and led her back towards her bedroom. Coffee forgotten.


End file.
